Sunday, January 27, 2013

This is why I like Utah - it's really pretty. What I don't like about Utah - it was 8 degrees almost every day the week I took this picture. Brrrrrr.

Somebody was sweet and bought me flowers. :)

I learned how to spell my name...

And we added this beauty to our house. I love it.

We finally hung up the frames we already had, and added a beautiful painting and picture of the Mount Timpanogos temple with them. We love them! Thank you Lisa & George for our awesome Christmas present! It'll be hanging in our home for a long time. :)

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

We are so lucky to have friends and family who love us enough to wake up at 4 in the morning to drive us to the airport in the pouring rain, or drive to and from Boston just to go to the airport for five minutes, or pick us up at one in the morning in the snow. All of those happened on the course of our trip, and I LOVE these people with all my heart. Thank you Abbie, Dennis, Lisa, and James!

After our long journey on Christmas Eve... we decided to play with our dinner.

Merry Christmas from Nick and Kristi!

We loved sitting front row center court at the Red Claws game. I felt like a million bucks with the owner sitting next to me and Danny Ainge across from me scouting out the players.

We had fun lounging around in our pajamas quite a bit. It was probably a good thing, since most everyone got sick at some point, the last semester took it out on all of us, and we broke two cars when we were out and about. So thumbs up for taking it easy!

We enjoyed New Years' Eve and explored Portland and I saw my first lighthouse! It was so incredibly cold on the coast, but also so incredibly pretty. We had fun partying with some family to ring in the new year. I'll always remember ringing out 2012 with playing Mafia, Gangham Style, Martinelli's toasts, and kissing my husband for the first year of many.

One of my favorite parts of the trip was snowmobiling! Nick had me screaming as he floored it around curves and over jumps. I was so scared of falling off! But I can understand the thrill of motorcycles now as I hit 50 driving the snowmobile for the first time on an open field.

Other memorable parts of the trip: my first purchase at LL Bean, lots and lots of snow, an Eagle Court of Honor where my cute hubby and his brothers got to get up and show off, an awesome haircut, tasty food, lots of sleep, The Hobbit, Jack Reacher, free tanning, awesome gifts and surprises, church basketball, pushing cars, and lots of hugs and kisses. We feel so lucky we got to fly out and be with so much family over the holidays and we feel incredibly spoiled!!

(Side note: We flew through the O'hare airport, aka "the gateway to my hometown", and I got a little bit (ok, a lot a bit) emotional. Nick humored me and we took a stroll down the main terminal as I reminisced... and we got deep dish pizza and life was good. It's crazy thinking about all the growing up (literally) and changing that happened in the 14 years I lived in the land of Lincoln. It will always hold a place in my heart. I love Chicago, the suburbs that made me who I am, the opportunities it gave me, the life I lived there. And not to mention the amazing people - the kids I grew up with since kindergarten who are still my friends, even though I moved 8 years ago, and thinking about how we had to leave the Woodridge ward breaks my heart. I love that state, that city, the "village" I lived in, the ghetto schools, the amazing people, and how much it made me who I am today. In the end, it still amazes me that my life in Illinois turned into a life in New Mexico, which turned into a life in Utah with a boy from Maine. I am so blessed to have traveled the road that I have. Viva Illinois! -Kristi)